Wellness getaway

If you came home exhausted from your last cram-it-all-in vacation, you might be in the mood for a more relaxing trip the next time around.

How about a week or so in which your biggest challenge will be choosing between a Swedish and a shiatsu massage, or pilates and yoga?

Spa vacations cater to people who want to relax and be pampered, perhaps with a little golf or skiing on the side.

"People want to come back from their holiday looking and feeling better than when they left," says Craig Oliver, president of Spas of America (www.spasofamerica.com), a website designed to take the stress out of finding the perfect place to de-stress.

The site includes more than 300 resort or destination spas across North America.

So instead of "having to go through six or seven major hotel brands to find a spa hotel," Oliver says, you can tailor your search to exactly what you're looking for.

You can look for a spa in a specific province or state, or for one in a particular type of setting -- beach, mountains, city, country or cruise, to name a few.

A search for desert spas, for example, brings up everything from the famous Canyon Ranch spa in Tucson, Arizona, to the less well-known Inn and Spa at Loretto in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

And this summer, Oliver says the site will allow you to narrow your search even further to the type of activity you're interested in, such as horseback riding, hiking or golf.

"It's designed to make it easier for spa customers to find what they're looking for," Oliver says.

Not everyone looking for a spa wants to spend a week lounging by the pool with a pina colada in one hand while the other is getting a manicure. With the increasing interest in healthy living, many people want to use a spa holiday to kick-start that process, Oliver says.

"People are able to take elements of the vacation back to their day to day lives, whether it's an afternoon session on healthier living or yoga," he says.

Others may be primarily interested in a specific recreational activity, but are not averse to a little pampering on the side. "Given a choice, they'd rather stay in a hotel with spa or wellness facilities," Oliver says.

The Spas of America site isn't a booking agent like other travel websites, such as Expedia or Travelocity.

Instead, it includes between three and 10 photos and a brief description of each spa, then directs them to each property's individual website for more information or to book a trip.

Oliver says one of the most popular features of the site, which has had about 50,000 hits in the six months it's been up and running, is the reviews of spas written by people who have visited them.

As well, he says, "we work with Leading Spas of Canada and the International Spa Association to make sure the spas are reputable and professional."

Spas of America is in the process of adding more properties in Mexico to the site, Oliver says.

And this is the first of what's planned to be a family of sites, with Spas of France and Spas of Italy set to launch later this year.

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